


When Worlds Collide

by kirsctein



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Car Accident, I have no idea where this will go, M/M, i'll add more tags and such when i do lol, they're about 23 in this so no teenagers anymore
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-25
Updated: 2015-12-06
Packaged: 2018-03-15 05:53:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3435863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kirsctein/pseuds/kirsctein
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marco sweeps Jean's feet right from under him (or his car does). Neither of them knew what would happen after (AND NEITHER DO I, YET) - or how close they had been passing each other before.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Crash

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FIRST OF ALL thanks to eMISH for the name ^^ smooches.  
> But umh yeah so I saw an AU post on tumblr and got inspired. This will just be a short beginning, but I'll write more soon (or, I actually already have the next three chapters almost ready)!

Marco was driving back home after the worst Valentine’s Day’s date ever. He had been crushing for this girl from his theatre group for weeks now, and then he had finally asked her out for Valentine’s. But... She was not what Marco had wished she would’ve been. Even thinking about the long, awkward silences while they both were sipping their coffees made Marco cringe, and he was probably driving a little too fast on the suburban area, just wanting to get home and take a hot shower to wash away the embarrassment. And they’d have another rehearsal in just couple of days… Marco shakes his head, trying to forget about the inevitable - of seeing and interacting with the girl again.

He takes a turn to right, still distracted by his thoughts. He gazes to left to see if there’s anyone coming while already turning the wheel, and on that moment he sees a skinny, dark figure enter the road from the corner of his eye. He snaps his gaze back into the direction he’s going, and steps on the break in panic, realizing that he’s just about to run someone over. He screams – internally or out loud, he doesn’t know – and tries to stop the car in time. But he cannot stop it quite in time. With a THUMB, he hits the person, who falls to the ground. The car stops, and Marco sits still for a moment, breathing heavily and shaking from head to toe. Then he somehow manages to get himself off the car and by the skinny figure, laying on the ground and moaning.

“Holy motherfucking…” the figure curses, and tries to lift himself off the ground to his elbows. 

“ARE YOU ALIVE??!” Marco quakes and kneels by the cursing figure. “I’m so sorry!!” 

His legs and hands still tremble from the shock as the person turns his face to him. It appears to be a guy around Marco’s age, with his dyed, blond hair a mess above his shocked, angry face.

“What the actual fuck man? Who the heck gave you a driving license? Fucking hell, I –“

“You’re bleeding!” Marco interrupts the flow of curses and points at the man’s forehead, where a narrow stream of blood is making its way down his right temple and towards the plucked eyebrow. The man lifts his hand to touch his temple and looks at his now-blood-covered fingers.

“Holy shit” he says, astonished, “I’m actually bleeding.” He looks at Marco, not so angrily anymore, and then his fingers again. “I think I need a hospital.”

“Should I call an ambulance?” Marco panics and starts to dig his phone from his pocket. “Or should I just drive you?”

“No… I.. I guess you could just drive me? Like, it’s not so bad?”

“Not so bad?! I just ran you over and your head is bleeding!”

“But I’m conscious and all so it can’t be so bad? Just… Help me up okay?”

He reaches his non-bloody hand towards Marco, who stares at it for a moment, and then gets up and takes his hand. Marco starts to pull the injured man up, but when he starts to get on his feet, he curses again and falls back to the ground.

“Motherfucking --- !” The man grabs his left knee and inhales sharply. “Holy hell, this night is just getting better and better! I think I’ve dislocated my knee?”  
Marco lifts his hands to his face in horror. This is his fault. His fault!

“I’m gonna call the ambulance now” he says with a shaky voice and tries to fish his phone from his pocket again.

“No no please, just help me up and in the car, okay? There’s no need for an ambulance”, the other man says, but he’s clearly in pain now. Marco drags his hands across his face in distress but puts the phone back to his pocket.

“Okay then. Lets just get you in the car.”

He lowers himself back to the ground and grabs the other man from under his left shoulder, and starts to hoist him up. The other man takes a good grip from Marco’s shoulder and grabs the front of Marco’s jacket with his other hand. They slowly get up, and the man leans heavily on Marco. He is slightly shorter than Marco, so Marco needs to bend over a bit.

“Shit, this really isn’t how I planned this night to go” he says and Marco starts to walk him towards the passenger side door of his car. The man jumps with his good leg and Marco supports him as well as he can, and they manage to get to the car. Marco opens the door, and helps the man sit on the seat – and with a flow of silent curses he lifts his injured leg inside the car and then tries to get into a comfortable position. Marco shuts the door, guilt storming inside of him, but his hands steady now. He goes around to the driver’s side and gets in the car. The other man is moaning silently, and trying to find the lever to move the seat back. Marco leans in and pulls the lever and helps the man adjust the seat.

“Thanks dude, that’s way better. Still hurts like hell though” the man says, and manages to flash a small smile. Marco tries to smile back, but his smile must look more like a grimace, for it makes the blond man let out a little laugh, which is cut off by more curses.

“My sides must be covered in bruises” the man mutters and hugs himself, eyes pressed close tightly. Marco’s face twists from horror and guilt, and he can only stare at this man, whose pain is his doing. 

The man opens his eyes just a little to glance at Marco. “We should get going, you know.”

“Oh. Right. Wait a second” Marco says and leans to get something from the backseat. “I have a first-aid kit here.” He opens it and goes through the supplies, until he finds some gauze. “Here, press this to the wound on your head.”

The blond man takes the gauze, folds it and presses it to his temple. “Now, if you would..?”

“Yeah.”

Marco starts the car and they get going.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY so yeah. That's how it starts. Honestly sorry that the ch is pretty short, and the next will be too, but let's see how it goes from that.  
> Please give me feedback here or on [my tumblr](http://kirsctein.tumblr.com) if you have anything ^^ and lastly: Thank you so much for reading!!


	2. The Grin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At the hospital now, Marco gets to learn the mystery man's name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the second, yaaay  
> I actually ended up combining the chapters that were supposed to be the second and third to avoid too short chapters, so you might need to wait a bit longer for the third one ://

It’s only a ten minute drive to the nearest hospital, but it is agonizing to Marco, because he cannot not hear the labeled breathing and see the uncomfortable shifting of the man sitting next to him, even though he is clearly trying not to appear to be in pain. Every time he caught Marco glancing at him, he tried to smile convincingly, but Marco isn’t stupid. The man is in pain. And it is his fault. But there is nothing he can do, so he just focuses on getting him to the hospital safely.

When they finally reach the hospital, Marco parks right next to the main door. Then he quickly gets off and goes to open the door to the other man. The blond furrows his brow a little at that.

“Don’t make such faces, you cannot walk on your own. Just let me help” Marco says and offers his hand. The man rolls his eyes, but his effort to look annoyed is weak. He takes Marco’s hand, and slowly and not without wincing several times he manages to get off the car. Marco moves to his other side so they can more easily make their way inside the hospital, the blond man again leaning heavily on him. They make it to the front desk, and the nurse looks at them, waiting. Marco rushes to explain their emergency.

“He was hit by a car! I ran him over! He needs a doctor quickly!”

The nurse’s eyes open wider and she is just about to open her mouth for more questions, when the blond man opens his mouth.

“Yes, just...wait a second. I was indeed hit by a car but I’m okay” he says to the nurse, “nothing so serious.”

Marco looks at the blond man with his mouth open.

“Nothing serious? Your knee is dislocated! You’re bleeding! And who knows what else!”

The blond man is just about to reply when the nurse cuts in.

“So you were hit by a car? And you suffer a dislocated knee and bleeding…from your head I assume?” she adds while glancing at the gauze still sticking to the blond man’s temple. “But you’ve been conscious the whole time? What is your name? We need to get you checked as soon as possible.”

“Yes” Marco rushes to say, “he’s been conscious the whole time, and his name is…” He turns to the other man.

“Jean Kirschtein” the blond man says to the nurse, and glances to Marco. 

_Jean? Is he French?_ is what Marco thinks while the nurse and the blond man, Jean, go through the necessary personal information. 

“Okay, just sit there for a moment and I’ll move you on the top of the list, someone should come and get you in a few minutes” the nurse says and points towards the waiting area. Jean nods, and Marco helps him hop to the closest chairs. Jean carefully lowers himself on one of the chairs, closes his eyes and lets out a deep sigh. Marco hovers awkwardly next to him, uncertain of what to do.

“Umh… Jean?”

The blond man opens his other eye and gazes to Marco.

“Should I… What should I do?” Marco asks. “Should I wait with you here? Or, do you want me out of your sight as fast as possible? Do you want to press charges?” Marco twists the hem of his jacket, nervous.

The other man opens his other eye too and stares Marco for a moment. Then he looks away, and ruffles the darker, shortly cut part of his hair. “I…I don’t know. I guess I don’t want to press charges at least. But…I don’t know.” Jean looks at Marco again.

Unexpected relief washes over Marco. But Jean did not really give him any answer. “I guess I –“

“Kirschtein? Jean Kirschtein?”

There’s a nurse coming closer with a wheelchair. Jean lets out a small noise to indicate he’s the one the nurse wants, and the nurse stops by them. 

“Okay, you’re ready for examination? Just let me help you into this wheelchair.”

Jean lets out a small noise again, and has a weird expression on his face. Marco studies his face for a moment, and realizes it’s the look of embarrassment. The guy is embarrassed. But he still lets the nurse help him into the wheelchair. Marco stands back to give them space, and doesn’t know what to do or say.

When the nurse starts to wheel Jean off, Jean looks over his shoulder to Marco. “It could’ve been worse. I could’ve been run over by a middle-aged soccer mom instead of you and your cute freckles” he says and actually grins for real this time. And even if it hadn’t been for the compliment, that grin alone would’ve made Marco blush uncontrollably. He still manages to smile back to the injured man, and notices that Jean’s cheeks also look slightly pink. But the nurse wheels Jean quickly out of sight, and Marco is left behind on the waiting area. 

For a moment he stands staring at the door Jean just went through, but then all the adrenaline and strength is drained from his body and he slumps on the chair Jean just got up. He ran over someone. And someone attractive. Who might have just...flirted with him? No, it must be his imagination. He just ran Jean over, there’s no way he’d flirt with him? Right? But…Oh no, he just ran over someone.

“Oh good lord” Marco moans while burying his face to his hands. He’s a terrible person. All because he wasn’t paying attention. All because he had screwed up the date like that. And this is what happened. 

He lets out a sigh and gets up to find a toilet. After wandering around for a while, he finds one and goes in to wash his face with cold water. He stares at his wet, freckled face from the mirror, and the guilty thoughts swirl in his head. What should he do? Should he wait until Jean is patched up? Or…No, he can’t just leave, he needs to stay and wait. He tightens his grab on the sink and grouches over it, hanging his head. “I’ve fucked up…”

He stays like that for a moment, then splashes another palm full of cold water on his face, wipes the water off with a paper towel and straightens his back. He’s gonna stay and wait. That’s the least he can do, to see Jean is okay and maybe give him a ride back home. Yes.

Marco walks back to the waiting area and sits down on a chair. There are many people waiting around, both patients and their loved ones. Marco observes the people come and go for a while, but then the exhaustion wins, and he falls asleep.

* * * * * * * * * * 

 

“Sir? Sir, wake up.”

Marco lets out a small hmmm and opens his eyes. He looks at the nurse in front of him, and then around in the room. He must have fallen asleep for…An hour, two? He ruffles his hair and yawns. Then he looks back at the nurse. “Yes?”

“You came in with Mr. Kirschtein, didn’t you?” the nurse asks. 

Marco blinks slowly a few times before replying. “I did, yes. Is he okay?”

“He’s going to need to stay for the night. He asked us to tell you to just go home if you were still around.” The nurse smiles slightly. Marco feels warm inside, and he must have blushed slightly. 

“Stay the night? Is he alright?” The panic is again taking Marco over. If Jean needs to stay the night, it’s serious after all, isn’t it? What has he _done_?

“Well, I cannot tell you any specifics because you’re not family…” the nurse says with a question in his voice, and Marco shakes his head. “…but as I said, he’ll need to stay the night, just in case.”

“So…Can I go see him?” he asks, somewhat shyly.

“I’m afraid not, since he needs rest and it is such a late hour. “

Marco nods. “Alright. Maybe I could come tomorrow…”

The nurse smiles. “The visiting hours are from two pm to eight pm, but Mr. Kirschtein might be let out tomorrow, depending on how tonight goes.”

“Well, okay. Thank you” Marco says and smiles to the nurse. Jean’s injuries don’t sound so serious if he might already get out tomorrow. Marco gets up as the nurse takes off. He adjusts his jacket and slowly starts towards the door. He can’t ignore the disappointment swelling inside. He would have wanted to see Jean again, to make sure he really was okay. Maybe he could catch him tomorrow… But if he’s fine, as Marco of course hopes, he will be let out at some point of the day, and how would Marco possibly catch him then? 

He shakes his head and walks out of the door. The chilly night air washes over him, and he shivers. His car is still there, but there is a parking ticket on the windshield. Awesome. But Marco doesn’t really care at the moment, he just picks it up and drops it on the passenger seat when the gets in. He rests his hands on the wheel for a while before starting the car and driving away from the hospital. During the drive he decides to go back to the hospital in the morning. He needs to see Jean again, and apologize for all he has done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading!!! ch 3 hopefully soon c:  
> comments and feedback welcome!!!


	3. The Wait

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marco is restless and keeps worrying about Jean. He calls his friends for support.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter three, yay!  
> Introducing two more characters in this one ^^

Marco cannot sleep so well. He keeps waking up and thinking about Jean, and Jean’s injuries. He has some nightmares of actually running Jean over for good and holding his dead body on his arms, and wakes up sweaty and panting. 

Around six am Marco cannot take it anymore, and gets up to go for a shower. He lets the hot water run down his hair and body, and tries to get rid of the mental picture of bloody and limp Jean on his arms. Instead he thinks if Jean’s grin, and can’t help but to blush again. That grin was so attractive, and what would it even be like in normal conditions, when the man wasn’t in such pain while giving the smile? 

“I need to forget about that though” Marco mutters and turns the water colder. He cannot even think about making a move on Jean when the other man must be furious to him, even though he hadn’t seemed like that last night. But who wouldn’t be angry to the person who got you into a hospital? Marco sighs, and cuts off the water. 

He just cannot stay home wondering, so after eating some breakfast, Marco goes for a run. He hasn’t been running for a while, because his theatre rehearsals have been so intense and exhausting. But now he runs and runs, letting out all tension and stress without thinking anything but the movement of his muscles. 

He runs his usual course twice, but still the clock is only just past eight when he gets home again. Now that he’s done running, he’s thinking about Jean again. But there’s no use going to the hospital yet, of it’s almost six hours until the visiting hours… Marco kicks his running shoes off, frustrated, and goes to take another quick shower. 

After the shower, he’s even more frustrated. He has nothing to do, nothing to distract himself. After wandering around his two room plus kitchen condo for a while, trying to do some cleaning that actually had the exact opposite effect, Marco decides to call his best friend Connie. The phone rings for a good while, until someone finally answers.

“Hmmmmh?” breathes a female voice on the other end. 

“Oh, morning, Sasha. Sorry to bother this early. You still sleeping?”

“Mmmmorning, Marco… Yeah… Wait a sec, I’ll try to wake Connie up, I guess it was him you were trying to reach …”

Marco hears Sasha call Connie for a few times on the other end, and then he hears Connie grunt as if Sasha had kicked him, which she most likely had. Marco has to suppress a laugh. Then he hears his best friend’s voice from the line.

“Marco? You know it’s like five am, right? What’s up?”

Marco laughs now. “It’s eight forty-five, to be exact. And, umh…” Marco shifts uncomfortably and puts the phone on his other ear instead. “I kinda…Hit someone with my car last night?” he says and grimaces. 

“So the date was a success? And what did you say about the car? Did you have sex in it?” Connie yawns. Sasha makes some inappropriate noises on the background.

“What? No! I mean I literally… Ran over someone with my car!”

“What?!” Connie barks, and Marco hears Sasha repeat the question on the back. “You RAN OVER someone? (Sasha: “WHAT??”) Are you in jail? Need us to bail you out?” (Sasha: “What the hell happened?”)

“No I’m not in jail, it’s okay, I - - “ There’s some rustling, and then Sasha is on phone again.

“What the hell even happened? Tell me, are you okay? Is the other person okay? Do you need us to come over?”

“Umh, I’m fine. And well, I had to take him to a hospital but he wasn’t hurt too badly, I hope? I mean, he even had the energy to…maybe…flirt with me?” Marco says, with a question in his voice.

“WHAT?!” Sasha yells again ,this time so that loud Marco has to take the phone away from his ear, wincing. “He did WHAT? Wait a second there“ – some more rustling – “now, you’re on speaker, prince Marco. What exactly happened?”

“Tell uncle Connie and aunt Sasha _everything_ ” Connie adds.

Marco lets out a nervous laugh, but then gets serious again. “Well, I as getting back from the date – which was a disaster, by the way – (Sasha: “I told you it would be”) and when I was taking a turn, he just walked right in front of the car, and I …bumped into him. I didn’t have much speed though. But he hurt his knee and head at least. It was terrible.”

“Yeah okay but he was quite fine in the end, right?” Connie asks.

“Tell us about the flirting instead! Was he hot?” Sasha says, sounding enthusiastic, which in Marco’s opinion isn’t quite the right way to react when your friend has just ran over someone.

“That isn’t the point in here!” he groans, but Sasha is determined.

“You brought up the flirting so just tell us about him!”

Marco groans again, but a smile is spreading on his face.

“I can hear your smile all across the town” Connie remarks, sarcastically.

“FINE. Well, he said he was kinda lucky it was me who ran him over and not some soccer mom. And…” Marco trails off, blushing slightly while remembering.

“Go on, go on!” Sasha rushes, and Marco can hear her jumping on the bed.

“Well…He said my freckles were cute?” he says and his blush deepens. He thanks the universe that there isn’t anyone there to see.

Sasha lets out a loud squeal and Marco can hear them giving each other a high-five. He rolls his eyes, but smiles. This is just like them. Sasha has been trying to find him a match for maybe years now, setting up blind dates and trying to make him go talk all people she thinks Marco might look good with – but nothing has yet lasted longer than few months at best. And apparently, this seemed like a new opportunity to Sasha. Not like Marco wasn’t into it too, though.

“What does he look like? Do you know his name? Did you get his number?” Sasha inquires. Marco cannot help but to laugh.

“Well he’s blond, kinda lanky, slightly shorter than me. He looks like a punk to be honest” Marco laughs. “His name is Jean. And no, I didn’t; he was kinda busy being injured and I was busy getting him to the hospital.”

“Ah man, that’s no excuse! You literally swiped him off his feet (Marco: “Hey!!”) and didn’t even ask for his number? Bullshit!” Sasha steams. 

Connie laughs, and says: “Give the dude a break, exchanging numbers sure wasn’t first thing on either one’s mind on that situation.”

“Thank you, Connie. Damnit” Marco rubs his temples, and sighs. “I thought I might go see him today? Would that be okay?”

“HECK YES” Sasha shouts.

“Well, guess you could? Like, to make sure he IS indeed alright?” Connie says, contemplatively. 

“Yeah I really want to make sure he’s fine. Or at least that I didn’t cause any permanent damage” Marco says slowly, just realizing it. What if he has caused some permanent damage? He lifts his hand to his mouth.

“Hey relax there, I can hear you going straight to the worst case scenario” Sasha says, sounding motherly. “He wasn’t so badly injured, right? Sure there wasn’t anything more serious.”

Suddenly Marco wants to cry. So much has happened, he’s possibly ruined someone’s life, but his friends still care about him. He sobs.

“Oh honey nooooo” – some rustling again –“now, you’re not on speaker anymore. What is it? Should we really come over? Last night must’ve been traumatizing” Sasha says sympathetically. “Hey potato boy, go get yourself ready, we’re going to Marco’s” she calls to Connie. 

Marco wipes his nose. “No honestly, there’s no need. It’s ok. I’m okay.”

“The heck you’re not, don’t try to fool me, freckle prince. We’re coming over until you can go to the hospital to see the punk, okay? Okay. I’m hanging up now!”

“Fine then” Marco whispers to the phone, which is already beeping that the call has ended.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was it! I hope Connie and Sasha seemed as easy and natural to you as they did to me. Also, please give me feedback or any comments here or on my tumblr (kirsctein.tumblr.com)! I'd really appreciate it.
> 
> Now, I'm not quite sure when I will be able to post the next chapter since I'm going for a short holiday and I've been quite busy with studying, and still am, so apologies :// but I promise there will be more, I will complete this!!!
> 
> And again, thanks a lot for reading!


	4. The Guilt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marco goes to make sure Jean is okay, and comes by someone he didn't expect to see.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiii chapter four is FINALLY here!!!  
> Some new characters again hehee ~

Connie and Sasha stayed until around noon, when Sasha realized that her shift at the restaurant was starting in only few moments. While the two of them were rushing out of the door, stuffing their feet into their shoes and pulling the jackets on, Marco made up his mind and took his jacket off the rack. Connie gave him a look.

“You going somewhere?”

“Yeah, I thought I could go…do some grocery shopping?” Marco says, smiling guiltily. 

Connie shakes his head as he shoves his arm into the sleeve of his jacket. “You’re going at the hospital, right? But don’t the visiting hours begin only in two hours or something?”

“He’s an adult, he can do what he likes. Go wipe the feet from under that punk with your _cute freckles_ ” Sasha smiles while putting her beanie on. “Babe, give me the keys and I’ll go start the car.”

“Didn’t he already do that though…” Connie mumbles while throwing the keys to his girlfriend, who’s already out of the door. He too pulls on his beanie, looks at Marco, and shrugs. “Yeah man, whatever. Just be chill, eh? I’m sure he’s fine though” he continues and slams Marco’s shoulder. 

Marco laughs a little, and they walk out the door. Sasha is changing the radio channels inside the car, and Connie slumps on the passenger seat. He rolls down the window, and looks at Marco.

“Just don’t go buying him flowers, don’t ya?” he says, with a somewhat pained expression. Sasha punches his arm.

“But that’d be super cute!”

“That’d be super cheesy!” Connie counters, rubbing his arm. “That hurt”

“Sorry sorry, but you deserved that.” She looks over to Marco, and sticks out her tongue. “I’m sure to call you in the evening and I expect you to tell everything. Bye now!”

And she speeds off, burning some rubber.

Marco waves after the car, and waits until they turn from the corner before walking to his own car. He’s rubbing the back of his head absently, reconsidering if it’s a good idea at all to go see Jean. But he needs to make sure he’s alright, so he shakes his head, trying to stop overthinking, and takes out the car keys. He sits behind the wheel and starts towards the hospital.

It takes him about twenty minutes to read the hospital this time, so the clock is nearing one pm when he parks his car. It’s still over an hour before the visiting hours, what should I do? he thinks as he slams the car door shut. _Maybe I could go by the gift shop and buy him something? Flowers? Oh wait, no flowers… Chocolate? Or is that too cheesy too?_ A cold wind blows through the parking lot, and Marco shivers, pulling his jacket tighter around him.

He is nearing the main door when he sees a familiar figure being wheeled out of the door, looking really annoyed. He picks up his pace, and gets on hearing distance just when the nurse helps Jean up on the crutches. He hears the nurse remind Jean on his check-ups and physiotherapy, and Jean muttering something obviously sarcastic in response. The nurse just smiles, and asks if he has anyone coming to pick him up.

“My ride is on its way all right” Jean says and scopes around the parking lot. That’s when he notices Marco. His expression changes into something Marco cannot really read, but it doesn’t look so welcoming. Marco stops in the middle of a step, but then continues towards the now alone standing man. 

“Umh, hi?” he says when he reaches Jean, smiling sheepishly. 

“Oh, you” Jean greets, and turns his face away, a faint blush colouring his cheeks but his eyebrows in an angry frown. ”Didn’t expect to see you again.”

Marco laughs, awkwardly, and opens his arms. “Well I needed to make sure you’re alright, since I couldn’t get anything out from the nurses last night”

Jean glances Marco from the corner of his eye. “Hm.” He keeps gazing around the parking lot, and Marco starts to feel really nervous. The man seems like a totally different person from last night, his behavior now matching more his kind of rowdy appearance. He seems…Angry. Marco is just considering just saying something nice and leaving, when the other speaks up.

“Wanna go sit down?” he says, glancing Marco again, and pointing a nearby bench with the other one of his crutches. Marco just stares for a moment, for he obviously cannot read the man at all.

Jean shoots Marco with an angrier glance. “Well?!” he demands. 

Marco shrugs and starts towards the bench. Jean takes some wobbly steps with his crutches, and Marco moves closer, ready to support him. 

“Do you –“

“I can manage!” Jean snaps, the red on his cheeks slightly deepeing. Marco takes a quick step sideways. Let the man handle it himself then…

When they reach the bench, Marco makes a move to help Jean sit down, but quickly pulls his arms back when Jean shoots him daggers with his eyes. He stuffs his hands into his pockets, and sits on the other end of the bench. Jean slowly lowers himself on the other end. They sit silently for a while, Jean quietly wheezing through his teeth. His knee must hurt more than he wants to admit.

Marco takes some time to gather up his courage, and then finally opens his mouth to ask about Jean’s injuries. “So… What was the verdict? Are you okay? Can’t be so bad, since they let you out already, or..?”

Jean stays silent for a while still, and then replies without looking at Marco. Marco takes his time to study Jean’s face though.

“They said the ligaments on my knee, or something, were sprained. So nothing so serious, but they had to scan the knee to make sure an operation wasn’t needed though. Aaand now I need to walk with these for a while” he says, shoving the crutches leaning on the bench next to him. He looks so utterly _done_ , and Marco is drowning in guilt.

“I’m so sorry…” he whispers, twisting the hem of his jacket. Jean looks at him now, with raised eyebrows.

“I’m not really blaming you, okay? Should’ve watched where I was fucking walking, too.”

Marco bites his lip, furrows his brow and looks away. Jean lets out an annoyed sigh.

“Look man, don’t look so damn quilt-ridden. I just gotta take it easy for a while and I’ll be fine. That’s it.” 

Marco lets out a weak _hmmmmhmmh_ , which makes Jean rolls his eyes. They sit silently for a while again, and then Jean speaks again.

“By the way, you basically know my whole damn personal info, not to talk about medical history, and I don’t even know your name” he says, and looking at Marco from the corner of his eye. Marco looks at him for a moment, his mouth a small “o”, just realizing this too. Jean’s eyes start to slowly wander towards his mouth, but then he clears his throat lifts his eyes to meet Marco’s. Marco clears his throat too.

“M-Marco. Marco Bodt” he says and offers his hand for a shake. Jean takes it, but then furrows his brow.

“Marco?" Some realisation obviously hits Jean, and his eyes widen. "Oh shit, don’t say you’re –“

“Jean!”

Both men look up, and Jean lets go of Marco’s hand. There are three people coming towards them, one of them sprinting ahead, his blond, longish ponytail swinging behind his head. Marco doesn’t have time to pay more attention to the two others before the blond had already pulled up in front of the bench, looking quite distressed.

“Jean, are you alright? Why didn’t you call earlier! And what even happened?” the blond inquires, and Marco looks from the other blond to the other, who’s now looking somewhat ashamed.

“Sorry, Armin, I didn’t want to make you worry” Jean says, smiling gingerly. 

“Worry? _Worry_? Don’t you think that you texting me to pick you up from a hospital, without saying nothing more, would make me _worry_??”

Jean lifts his hands in front of him in surrender, trying to calm the other down. “Sorry about that, but I’m fine, I’m fine, honestly! You wouldn’t have needed to make them come with you though.”

“They wanted to because they were worried too, you dumbass!”

The two others now reach the bench too, and Marco moves his gaze from the blond, Armin, to take in the others. A brunette with a huge, green eyes and who looks pissed, and - -

“Hi Marco” the other, a black-haired girl, says. Marco’s eyes widen and he gulps.

“H-hi, Mikasa” he manages to say as a greeting, as the images of the last night’s date flash before his eyes. How an earth is the girl here now? What… _Oh. She’s Jean’s friend. Well this is awkward._

“What are you doing here?” she asks Marco. Everyone's looking at him now, Armin's mouth a small "o" and the green-eyed kid measuring him his brow raised. MIkasa tilts her head slightly on the side, and Jean drags his hand across his face, looking away now. Marco wishes the earth would swallow him on this exact moment, but of course that doesn’t happen. So he takes a deep breath and just says it.

“Umh… I’m kinda the reason he ended up in here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Umh. Well. Poor Marco?!  
> Thanks for reading, and I hope you'll come by again to read more!  
> Comments and feedback welcome, in here or come see me on [tumblr!](http://kirsctein.tumblr.com)  
> OKAY so tbh i have no idea when i will have the next chapter out since my classes are starting to end which means a lot of assignment deadlines ;;~;; but i will return to this. because i have been thinking about this a lot. but im sorry if it takes some time ;n;


	5. The Scene

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jean is aching. And Marco wishes the earth would swallow him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys, it's been so long, and I'm really sorry about that!! After I was done with uni for the summer, I got a super hectic summer job, and then this fall was the roughest yet of all these years in uni. But I'm trying to get back on track, since I spent quite much time thinking about this fic during the summer/fall even though I didn't have any time to put my thoughts into paper (or word document but you know). 
> 
> Anyways, I hope this chapter is not a disappointment!
> 
> //POV changes in the chapter!

*Jean's POV*

  


”Whad did you just say?” Eren barks. 

Jean flinches at the loud sound, head slightly hazy from all the painkillers. He glances at Marco who is starting to resemble a tomato more and more the passing second, and lifts his hand up to stop Eren from going after the poor guy. There has been enough drama already and more will follow even if he gets Eren to calm down, since soon the two other guys will realise who the freckled brunet is. It will be….interesting.

“Calm down, no need to bite his head off”, Jean sighs. Eren relaxes his offensive stance a bit, but does not take his eyes off the poor man. And Jean knows that stare can scare the toughest guys. He wishes they could just skip this all and go home. His knee actually really aches (not even talking about his ribs), and putting on a tough face is getting harder by the minute.

Armin is hoovering very uncomfortably by the ever-calm Mikasa, trying to get a hold of the situation. Jean can actually see the moment the blond catches up. He inhales sharply and goes: “You’re Marco! You….You and Mikasa went out yesterday!”

Jean sits back and watches the situation develop in front of him. Eren slowly turns towards Armin, jaw dropping and eyebrows rising. Mikasa is smiling slightly at Marco. The red on Marco’s face has taken a more greenish tint – the guy looks like he wants to disappear from the face of Earth. He….He looks kinda cute. Jean can’t help but think that. And that is why he keeps putting on the brave act – he doesn’t want Marco to see what a whining baby he can be, and very much would like to be right now. But he hurts pretty much everywhere, so he probably does not seem at all as chill as he would like to. But damn, this guy just went on a date with one of his best friends last night…!

Marco finally breaks the silence after Armin’s big reveal. “Yup, that’s me…” he says and grins weakly. Jean blinks, and blinks again, since that…that’s just adorable.

“Oh well, that’s quite a coincidence!” the blonde laughs. Then his face gets serious again. “But what did you mean with that ‘being a reason he ended up here’?”

Marco reddens violently again (how is that possible?? To get even redder from before? Jean can’t but be amazed) and Jean clears his throat. The three of his friends turn to look at him, while Marco leans forward and buries his face into his hands.

“Umh..” Jean starts. “When I was getting home last night, I wasn’t paying too much attention and well, kinda walked under his car…” 

He smiles sheepishly at his friends. They all look back, mouths hanging open and eyes wide. Then they all burst into action. Armin rushes forward, asking ten questions a second: if he’s alright, does it hurt, was he seriously injured, why didn’t he call earlier, does he want chicken soup for dinner. Eren looks murderous again, trying to get to Marco but Mikasa is a steady wall keeping him in a safe distance from the freckled man – who is currently looking like his spirit has left his body. A headache is forming behind Jean’s temples and now, he just wants to go home. And somehow get Marco’s number before that.

“Oh stop it guys I’m just fine!” he snaps, mostly at Eren. Quick look at Armin though makes him realise he went a bit too far. “Sorry Ar, you know I appreciate it.” The blond manages a small smile. Eren is trying to protest (he is a good friend in the end) but Jean silence him with a stern stare. The brunet rolls his eyes but lets it go. Mikasa does not completely leave her place from his side though. Marco gulps. Gosh Jean wants to go home.

Armin takes a small step backwards. “Should…Should we go home?” he asks tentatively.

Jean gathers his crutches and nods. “Guess we should”

Armin nods back, smile a bit more sure now. “Yeah. We’ll wait by the car, if you two still have…”

He lets the sentence fade, questioningly. Jean glances at Marco and finds himself looking in his eyes. Could he ask for his number? Should he?

“Okay. We’ll go” Armin smiles and waves. “It was…nice..meeting you, Marco.”

Marco lifts his gaze to the small blond and manages a smile. “Yeah, you too. Would’ve been nicer in some other circumstances though.”

Armin laughs, and Eren mutters “Sure as hell would’ve.”

Mikasa smiles at Marco when the boys start to walk away. “Thanks for last night. I had fun.” She wipes her hair behind her ear, turning to leave. “See you on Wednesday then.”

Marco waves weakly after her and then lets out a huge sigh and slumps forwards again. Jean shifts a little, leaning more on his less bruised buttock. Uh huh. So the date had been a good one? He could actually feel his (teeny-weeny) chances on this guy to go down the drain. Well, seems like he is gonna see him around anyways. And no need to bother with the number then. 

“That…That was….so awkward.”

Marco’s shoulders twitch a bit. Then he just bursts into laughing, throwing his head back.

“It was so awkward I wanted to explode” he manages to say. Jean can’t help but grin, and he leans his arm in the back of the bench and leans to his hand, watching as the other man laughs the tension away. He looks so nice when laughing. 

Soon Marco’s laugh dies away, almost as fast as it started. “Damn that really was awkward. I was sure the taller guy was gonna take me to the back alley and I’d never be seen or heard of again.”

Jean snorts. “He just might’ve. But hey, apparently your date with Mikasa was a success.”

“I wonder if we went to a totally different dates…” Marco mutters, making Jean raise his eyebrows in surprise. But Mikasa just…what?

“What do you mean?” Jean asks.

Marco looks at him, suddenly very embarrassed. “I shouldn’t have said that. She’s your friend and all. Please forget I said that.”

Jean is even more puzzled. “No just, what? Didn’t it go well then?”

Marco smiles sheepishly. “Weellll you know…I’m not very good in awkward situations, as you may have noticed. And long silences, they…they make me want to jump on the walls. And Mikasa…She’s not very talkative.”

Ah. _Ah._ So that was it. Jean totally gets it. And feels sorry for both Mikasa and Marco – he doesn’t really know what Mikasa thinks of the guy though. And he can’t help but feel a little more hopeful for himself.

“I get that. She sure isn’t.”

Marco smiles at him. He grins back. Shit that guy is adorable. 

Marco glances into the parking lot and then back to Jean. “You should probably go. They’re waiting.”

Jean sighs. “Yeah.” He doesn’t do anything to get up. 

Marco grimaces a bit, looking sympathetic all of a sudden. “It does actually hurt pretty bad, does it? Please don’t fake it to save my feelings. I know it’s my fault.”

Jean must look pretty dumbfounded, since Marco chuckles. “Hit the nail in the head, huh?” 

“No no no I’m alright it’s not an act” Jean tries to correct – damn that boy with his sharp eyes – but Marco just smiles a small, slightly sad smile. Fuck. Jean drags his hand over his face. “Ugh. I was trying to play it cool and get your number in the process.“

Jean freezes. He was NOT supposed to say that. What the fuck. His cheeks start to feel warm and now he wishes the soil would open up above him. 

But Marco lets out a giggle. A GIGGLE. Jean needs to tell his heart to stop racing so fast because the blood pumping in his veins faster all of a sudden makes him feel all the bruises along his side. This guy is gonna be the end of him.

“I’m sorry” Marco breathes, “that was like if I was enjoying your suffering. I totally did not mean that.”

“It’s…fine” Jean manages.

“No honestly I’m sorry” Marco insists “but my number? Why would you want the number of the dude who almost drove over you? Oh, for insurance?”

“Wha– no!” Jean rushes, “but because…” he trails off. He can’t look Marco in the eye and looks away instead. He hopes his cheeks aren’t burning up as bad as they feel like they are. Damn embarrassing.

“Because…” Marco tries carefully, “because you just…want my number?”

Jean refuses to look back at him. Gosh, it’s like if he’s 15 all over again. He raises his hands to cover his face.

Marco starts to dig something out from the inside pocket of his jacket. “I’m sure I have some in here…Ha!” he mumbles, victoriously. Jean peaks from the corner of his eye, seeing the other man wave a small piece of paper. He turns back to him, dropping his hands in his lap. 

“Here, take this” the freckled man says, offering the piece of paper. Jean slowly reaches for it, slightly cautious. Marco lets out a laugh. “It won’t bite.”

Jean takes the paper and takes a look at it. It’s a business card, with Marco’s contact info. And he is…

“A baker?”

Marco blushes slightly, but not like he had before. “Yeah…I’ve always loved baking.”

“That’s cool” Jean says, slipping the note in the pocket of his pan— no, jacket. Pants pocket would hurt too much in this posture. “Maybe I’ll drop by one day.”

“Be my guest” Marco smiles. Jean grins back at him. They stay like that for a moment.

“Oh well. I should go.”

Jean gathers his crutches again and starts to get up. Holy fuck it hurts – and he doesn’t manage to keep his face in check. Marco quickly rushes up and to help.

“Didn’t I say I can manage – “ Jean starts, but Marco silences him.

“Just let me help, you’re not fooling me anymore. Put your hand around my shoulder and shut your mouth.”

Jean, completely taken aback, follows his orders without a word. He winces when the other man wraps his arm around him, putting his hand right on the bruises on his right side. “Sorry, sorry” Marco whispers and adjusts his grip. He heaves Jean up on his feet, surprisingly easily considering his lean frame. When they’re up, Marco offers Jean his crutches and he takes them. 

“I guess you won’t let me walk you to your car?” Marco teases.

“Oh hell no” Jean says, but grins. “Thanks though. Be ready for the bloodhounds to come collect the compensation for the pain and discomfort.”

Marco looks horrified, and Jean lets out a laugh. “Just joking, just joking, jeez. I might really drop by the bakery though.”

At that, Marco smiles. “You’re more than welcome. Might even give you a discount!”

Jean grins, and salutes with the crutches on his other hand. Then he takes his leave towards the car. Every step hurts like hell but he bites his lip and tries to not let it show. He has this bubbly feeling in his stomach though, thanks to the business card safe in his pocket. 

  


*Marco's POV*

  


Marco sits back on the bench and watches Jean go. It looks so painful, he can tell from the blond’s tensed shoulders. This day sure has been a rollercoaster ride. He shakes his head and looks in the sky. 

He just gave him his number…!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! You're welcome to hmu on twitter (@tiny_suga) or tumblr (@kirsctein) if you feel like it ^^
> 
> Also, I would be thankful to know if there's some typos or grammar mistakes in the text!


End file.
